Us
by Shaikhiin
Summary: If there was one thing he would never gamble on it was his love for her. A one-shot set after the ending of the Avengers movie. Tony/Pepper.
1. You

**A/N:** Well, after watching Avengers I just had to write this! Please be warned if you haven't watched Avengers don't read this as there are a few spoilers in here. I'd hate to spoil the awesomeness of the Tony/Pepper scenes in the Avengers for you! Oh and also I wrote this pretty late at night so if it isn't coherent then I blame it on my long day at work... Enjoy...

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There wasn't a lot he asked for now other than to love her unconditionally until the day he dies. But still he will gamble because there just wasn't anything else he could think of doing other than to throw himself into a space portal just to prove a point. He took chances and he gambled whenever he could. But not in the money sort of way but with lives which in some cases would seem more serious but really, he was Ironman, what could go wrong? He came pretty close to that earlier and he knew it. He felt it, in his soul, in his genius mind and in a way, his heart too.

But if there was one thing he would never gamble on it was his love for _her_. No, that was something much more sacred to him. It was the type of thing that he knew he would never let go without a fight. It was the type of thing that had settled into his heart and intertwined itself with the very being of his soul. In many ways loving _her _had become a part of him. It became second nature to look at her and grin like a hopeful idiot and what made it funny sometimes was that it was perfectly okay.

It was okay in so many ways to know that she was all he had now and that she was all he wanted always too. It wasn't so hard to think that one day he was going to go down on his knee for her and ask her for so much more than just her hand. Her life maybe, but more importantly her heart. He was quite sure she already gave that to him a long time ago but to be sure he will ask. Because he was a respectable sort of man now and it would only be right to ask her for it. A man never takes from a woman what he can ask for instead.

Sometimes it astounds him to finally realize how perfect it feels to have this. It's situations like these that make him realize how much he actually has to lose. She really is his world now. She really is all he lives for because as much as the others liked to refer to him as a selfish bastard, for her he would be. She was all he had. He couldn't offer her a man with an honest past. He could only offer her what he was now and what he was going to be for her. He could only offer his heart and the rest of his life.

"You're quiet this evening," she says to him as they lay there in their bed with nothing between them other than the warmth of each other's skins.

He smiles and tightens that hold he has around her shoulders. He presses a kiss at the side of her head and closes his eyes as he inhales her scent and holds onto that moment for as long as he can. He tries not to think about the events of the day and tries just to focus on here and now and them. But sometimes it's just hard not to think about how close he came to losing this. It was hard to think that for a slight moment, he was even willing to give this up just for the rest of the world. But how could he, she was his world, wasn't she?

"Say something, Tony," she whispers and slides an arm around his neck to pull his lips away from her head and to her neck instead. She's breathing him in and suddenly his heart erupts with a million emotions. He's falling in love more and more with every day, but here and now after everything, he realizes that he loves her to that infinite kind of level.

He feels her fingers combing through his curly hair back and forth. He has never told her how much he loves her running her fingers through his hair before. But he does because in a way it reminds him of his mother and the way his mother used to do that when he was a boy. There have been many in his regretful past that have done this very thing during moments of passion but for some reason with her, it's like coming home.

"Tony," she whispers into his ear this time and presses a kiss at his neck.

He catches the bend of her elbow in his hand and he slides his hand up her arm until he has the side of her face in his hand. He pulls back just to cast his eyes over her because he just can't get over the fact of how he could have lost her earlier. She's staring at him with her ocean blue eyes and smiling in that way she always does when she looks at him.

"I love you, Pepper," he says with his hoarse voice, "You know that right?"

The smile leaves her face as the atmosphere in the room suddenly changes from one degree to several degrees below. He hopes he hasn't said anything wrong.

"Tony, what's wrong?" she asks, her voice is full of question and she actually sounds worried.

He smiles and pulls her in for an embrace because he really just needs to feel her in his arms. He really wants to just keep her in his arms forever.

"I almost lost you today," he whispers to her as he buries his face in the crook of her neck.

He feels her relaxing into him and he feels the rumble in her chest before she says, "You mean, I almost lost you today right?"

"There was a moment when I held that missile in my hand and flew into that portal where I was willing to sacrifice myself for the city," he tells her.

"There's nothing wrong with that," she says softly to him.

"There is," he says immediately after.

Her silence urges him to continue even though he really doesn't know what to say that won't end up sounding extremely cheesy.

"Because I was willing to let you go," he barely manages to whisper audibly.

She gasps and whispers his name as she tightens her arms around him. He sighs when she slips her fingers into his hair again to comb through his scalp.

"Listen to me," she says into his ear, "You will never let me go. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I won't let you."


	2. Me

**A/N: **Hmm...I wasn't exactly planning to write a chapter two for this story but I just couldn't help myself. Listening to 'The Devil's Tears' by Angus & Julia Stone does things to my soul that I just can't possibly comprehend...or actually I can, because as I listened one thing led to another and before I knew it, I wrote this. It's written from Pepper's point of view but set in the same scene as the first chapter. Hopefully it isn't too incoherent, it's late and I've had the longest day at work. Also, on another note, thank you for all the lovely reviews. :)

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There's something beautiful about the way he holds her that makes her swoon every time he does so. They've done this more times than she could possibly count but each time it only gets better. She feels like she's coming home every single time she's in his arms. It's something about the way he's holds her when they're laying together skin against skin. There's a sense of belonging, of cherishing and forever that she feels when he's holding her as if he never wants to let go.

He rarely talks about it during moments like these when they're sated and completely relaxed. She thinks it's probably because he's just trying to enjoy here, now and them and not be reminded of the events of the day. But then there are those days when he's seen things he rather wished he didn't when he does share his most inner thoughts with her. She knows it takes a lot out of him to share those type of things with her because let's face it; he isn't exactly the most 'talk-after-sex' kind of guy or rather he wasn't until he fell in love with her. These days he's started to share a little bit more with her than he ever did. It was as if the walls he had built around him all those years ago were slowly crumbling to reveal a man that actually had more of a heart than any man she had ever met before.

He was slowly becoming that softer, kinder and warmer kind of guy that was capable of caring and loving and cherishing forever after. The type of guy she's seen in the movies and secretly wished for to sweep her off her feet and give her that happily ever after. Little did she know all those years ago that the man she was looking for was in front of her all along.

She knew what she was getting in when she let him kiss her on that roof top all those months ago. She knew everything there was to know about him and she knew she was likely to be hurt unintentionally by him more than the probability of her walking in front of a bus. But yet she let him love her and slowly, she let herself love him too.

She had to admit she was secretly surprized when they had made it to their first month anniversary of being more than just friends. She thought he would have grown tired of being completely devoted to her because she knew there were a million and more other women out there who would happily fall into bed with him if he so pleased. But as he always did, he proved her wrong and loved her completely and utterly.

It shakes her to her very core at times when she really sits down and thinks about it all. There's a sense of pride and deep, everlasting type of love that erupts in her soul when she takes in the things he does for her. The way he ignores other women and looks only to her and at her when they're standing in front of the cameras or when they're mingling at parties. He only holds her hand, flirts, laughs, jokes, holds and loves _her._

There's just something about him and the way he loves her that brings her back to earth every time. It gives her something more than just belonging. Maybe one day she'll understand but now, she'll just love him and continue to love him for as long as she can. She'll be there for him when the world crumbles and even if she has more enemies because of him, she'll still be there always by his side to love him. She'll lead his company and be that CEO he wants her to be in his absence as he busies himself saving the world instead. Because like he said, there really isn't anybody else he can trust with his pride and joy. Stark Industries. Although she did notice the gleam in his eyes when he said that and she wondered, only slightly, if maybe he had been hinting at an accumulation life form that was made of a little bit of him and her. They're pride and joy, maybe.

"You're quiet tonight this evening," she tells him because after everything that has happened today she wants to hear his voice so she can remind herself that he's really here.

She tightens her hold around his waist as she breaths in his scent and loses herself for a brief moment. She tries not to think about today and tries to focus on them, here and now as they lay skin against skin. She feels her heart swell when he tightens his hold around her and presses a kiss at the side of her head.

"Say something, Tony," she whispers as she slides an arm around his neck to pull his lips away from the side of her head. She feels his lips now pressed at her neck and she smiles.

She closes her eyes for a moment as she slides her fingers through his hair. She knows he loves it when she does this very thing after their moments of passion. She isn't really sure why or how she knows, but she does and she makes it a point to do this every time they lay here after.

"Tony," she whispers into his ear this time and adds a kiss at his neck.

She listens to him as he exhales and sighs. She feels the hum erupting from his chest as he moves and catches the bend of her elbow before he slides his hand up her arm until he has her face in his hand. He pulls back and she holds back a gasp when she realizes that he's staring at her directly from his soul. The walls are completely gone now.

"I love you, Pepper," he breathes, "You know that right?" his brow twitches and she really doesn't know where this is going.

She's not sure what to expect and the smile she had on her lips disappears as fast as she could even remind herself that he hasn't actually said anything wrong. She feels the atmosphere in the room shift and suddenly everything is serious, and she hopes that maybe he's just getting over the events of the day.

"Tony, what's wrong?" she decides to ask.

He smiles and she's taken aback when he embraces her.

"I almost lost you today," he whispers to her.

She can feel his lips at her neck again and she lets out a steady breath she didn't know she was holding. "You mean, I almost lost you today right?"

"There was a moment when I held that missile in my hand and flew into that portal where I was willing to sacrifice myself for the city," he tells her softly. She can feel the breath on his lips against her neck and as she listens to him she's falling in love with him even more.

"There's nothing wrong with that," she tells him because there isn't, he was willing to sacrifice himself for the city. That said a lot more about the man he had become today than anything and anyone ever could.

"There is," he says immediately.

She frowns and slides her hand to the back of his neck, holding him and keeping quiet because she really doesn't know what to say.

"Because I was willing to let you go," she barely hears him but she does and his words come crashing down like a thousand tons.

She gasps his name because that's all she really can think of in that moment. She finally realizes why his eyes eagerly sought her out when she stepped out of the plane earlier. She finally knew why he held her so tightly and so longingly for all and sundry to see. She finally understood the love he had for her. It wasn't the type of love that lasted a life time or the type of clichéd love you only saw in the movies, his love was something that went to that infinite type of level.

"Listen to me," she says into his ear as she runs her fingers through his hair, "You will never let me go. You know why?"

"Why?"

She says the only thing she finally knows now, "Because I won't let you."


End file.
